Meditation Monday: What perfume are you wearing?

I’ve got on my belt of truth and helmet of salvation. Gospel shoes on my feet. Shield of faith is ready to go. I’m ready for war--this day to day fight to live for truth and stand up for what’s right, refusing to give in or give up. We talk a lot about the importance of wearing the armor of God, but there’s another thing we need to make sure we wear.

Our perfume.

The way we smell is (obviously) really important. No one wants to be around someone who stinks. I remember in high school there was a girl who had terrible B.O. The mean girls would put deodorant in her locker making fun of her (and honestly we all hoped she would actually use it). And I, being the nice good girl, often became her partner for assignments because no one else wanted to be around her. I would try to hold my breath around her, but that only was good for a few seconds, then I was forced to take a breath of air and hope I wouldn’t pass out from the awful smell. She stunk, and no one wanted to be around her because of it.

While proper hygiene is important and something we should definitely be striving for, that’s not what I’m talking about today. Instead, I’m talking about our spiritual scent. How do we “smell” to others? How do we “smell” to God?

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us spreads and makes evident everywhere the sweet fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ which ascends to God, discernible both among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;

2 Corinthians 2:14-15 (AMP)

It is our job as Christians to spread God to everyone just like the scent of perfume fills a room. When we walk by, others should be able to smell Him on us. They should be able to smell Him win our words and actions. His scent should linger on us. They should know we spend time with the King because we smell of His scent.

When Mary washed the feet of Jesus, she poured onto his feet very expensive perfume and dried his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. (John 12:3) The scent alerted everyone in the house that she was there to worship Jesus. But even once she was no longer in his midst, the scent she had poured on him still lingered on her hair. She smelled just like Jesus. Her scent alone was proof that she had been in his presence, and the aroma followed her for others to smell as well.

That’s what we must strive for as well. To spread that sweet aroma. But how do we share that sweet smell? Through our praise and worship, spending time in His throneroom.

In the Old Testament, praise was a literal aroma, a mixture of flour and incense that was burned and offered to God. The Bible calls it a “sweet aroma to the Lord” (Leviticus 2:2 NKJV). Though our worship no longer contains actual offerings of fragrance and incense, we should still “smell” good to God. This means spending time with him. Choosing a lifestyle that is pleasing unto him. Honoring him with our words, attitude, entertainment, thoughts, relationships. Worship is our lifestyle. Does your lifestyle have a pleasing aroma to God?

My goal in life is to bring to God a sweet aroma of worship. To live my life in a way that lifts up a precious scent to Him. A scent that will linger on me, that others will smell on me, so I can make known everywhere the sweet fragrance of Him. 

Application

Pray: 

Lord, I live my life to worship You. May you find my worship and lifestyle pleasing, a sweet aroma. If my life has a foul odor to you, point out to me the stench, and help me to address it and allow You to cleanse me in that area.

Help me to walk daily in love, spreading the knowledge of You wherever I go and to everyone I meet. May they smell Your aroma on me and know I’ve been with You. Let it be a sweet odor that they want to experience more of. May it lead them to You.

A Weekend Full of Fancy

Brunch at the English Tea House? You never have to ask me twice. With hundreds of flavors of tea and delicious food, I will always say yes. The only problem? It's like five hours away. BUT it is also near my boyfriend. (HIM being five hours away is obviously the bigger problem.) So I find myself there sometimes.

For my birthday weekend, brunch was even sweeter, because my besties and I turned it into a girls' road trip! And no, we did not only go for tea. For some reason we all decided to date guys who live in that area. We decided in advance to make this outing more special than normal by dressing up. Thankfully the boyfriends are really awesome and were totally okay with this.

Julianne has an eye for vintage like no one else, so she brought along some pretty vintage pieces for me to try on, and I loved this orange dress. It's definitely not my norm by any means. I rarely wear orange nor do I usually wear that style of dress. But for a special day, why not? She also lent me a cute hat that kept falling off my head. Oops.

The owner of the tea room was so excited to see a group of young people all dressed up and enjoying her establishment. She came to us and asked if she could take a group picture of us. "Perfect. Absolutely perfect," she said. I half expected her to cry! Then she gave us a gift card to use next time we go. I thought that gesture was so sweet! We will most definitely be back!

After the tea room, we went to a few antique shops in the area, then Casey and I went to Oak Alley Plantation. It was supposed to be a surprise, but he ended up telling me about it. Didn't matter though, because I was excited to go! It was so beautiful. The first thing we did was walk to the end of the alley of oak trees. The trees are around 300 years old and they're expected to live another 300 years! We enjoyed a late lunch on the property and took a tour of the house. The history behind it is truly fascinating!

We ended the night with pizzas made by Julianne, her sister Rose, and her boyfriend, Caleb (who is Casey's brother). Also there were two little puppies that we played with. They were the actual cutest and were so tiny we put them in a coffee cup. A "puppuccino" if you will.

I'm so grateful to have such amazing friends and a sweet boyfriend who made it a fun weekend. I'm already ready for the next one!